Borderlands 4: Everything we know about Gearbox's next big FPS

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(Image credit: Gearbox Software)

Borderlands 4 teaser image

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Gearbox says it started working onBorderlands 4right after it shipped Borderlands 3 in 2019. Five years and a couple spin-offs later, the next mainline Borderlands game is almost here.

“So what you’re saying is: You like what my friends and I do with our Borderlands videogames even more than you like what some of the biggest and best cast and crew of film makers on the planet have done,“Pitchford tweetedafter the movie struggled at the box office in its opening weekend. “I’m super flattered! We’re working extra hard four you on what’s next.”

Here’s everything we know about Borderlands 4.

Is there a Borderlands 4 release date?

Gearbox says that Borderlands 4 will release in 2025.We’ve only just seen the first trailer with gameplay in it, so I’m guessing we’re looking at a fall release window. Borderlands 2 and Borderlands 3 both released in September.

However, Grand Theft Auto 6 is also set to release sometime in the second half of 2025, on consoles at least. It’d be a little surprising if Take-Two put two of its biggest games up against each other, so we’ll see how it plays out—one or the other could be delayed.

Borderlands 4 trailers

Here’s the latest Borderland 4 trailer from the 2024 Game Awards

Borderlands 4 - Official First Look - YouTubeWatch On

Borderlands 4 - Official First Look - YouTube

There have been two Borderlands 4 trailers so far, ateaser in August 2024, and then a longer trailer at the 2024 Game Awards (embedded above).

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The Game Awards trailer picks up where that teaser left off, and introduces the villain of Borderlands 4, The Timekeeper: “a ruthless dictator who dominates the masses from on high.” We also see someone who’ll probably be a sub-boss: a lady with giant robotic wing-arm-things who seems to be in control of the Psychos, and is apparently an enemy of the Timekeeper and his army of automaton-lookin' guys.

In the trailer’s description, Gearbox tells us where we are: a new planet called Kairos. Ata PAX panel in September, Gearbox said that the planet was “completely hidden” from the galaxy until now, so we’re probably not going to find references to it in existing Borderlands lore.

What do the encrypted messages in the trailers say?

The first teaser ended with the encoded message: “He is watching. Break free.”

Borderlands 4 gameplay details

(Image credit: Gearbox)

Four new Vault Hunters

Who are the new vault hunters?

The Game Awards trailer gave us our first look at the four new playable vault hunters in Borderlands 4, but Gearbox hasn’t told us much about them just yet.

At the SeptemberPAX Panel, the studio talked generally about its strategy for designing vault hunters. “We think it’s important that we switch it up” between games, said creative director Graeme Timmins, so expect the archetypes to be at least a little different this time. Narrative director Sam Winkler also had a little bit to say about Gearbox’s overall goal with Borderlands 4’s characters and story.

“With Borderlands 4, we want to bring it back to the player,” said Winkler. “We want to make sure the player and the vault hunters are the central characters of our story. We want to make sure the world is reactive, that the world is grounded. That while we keep our humor that brings a lot of people coming back to our franchise, in the game, we want to make sure that it’s situational, that it emerges naturally. So while we’re building these characters, we’re always making sure that they have strong personalities, that they will react differently to different situations, that we see the effects of that.”

The fan reaction to the new hunters has been mixed—some fansthink they look too bland—but we really don’t have a lot to go on yet.

What other gameplay details do we have?

There are some gameplay snippets in the Game Awards trailer. Aside from the usual Borderlands ‘bazillion guns’ shooting, three things stood out to me:

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Is there a Borderlands 4 release date?#

Borderlands 4 trailers#

Here’s the latest Borderland 4 trailer from the 2024 Game Awards#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

What do the encrypted messages in the trailers say?#

Borderlands 4 gameplay details#

Who are the new vault hunters?#

What other gameplay details do we have?#